Is it the media that guides us through our reality? Or is it how we perceive the presented information and accept it for reality? Often it is the media that influence and twine our thoughts, and allow us to construct our sense of reality. Altman’s idea of presenting to its stars, an ideal world highlighting all positive aspects of life and hiding what may potentially tarnish its image, creates a reality for those involved. Similarly, in our world today, we convey information in the media – news and newspapers in general, and make that the reality of the world we inhabit. This constructs one reality as we learn and respond to what is visible rather than guess and interpret what cannot be seen. News provides us with facts in our society. Altman focuses on the notion of our reality being manipulated and influenced by those around us. Hollywood’s life is depicted as happy and stress-free and that is the reality for those associated with the notion of a ‘Hollywood life’. Media can construct our reality however the interpretation of what we see is entirely under our control, yet often we are more inclined to listen and agree to others, living a reality influenced by them. The player offers a scathing critique of the ways that Hollywood works. Altman consistently explores the allure and ultimate emptiness of the icons and institutions of the 20th century. In ‘The Player’ he delves into the microcosm of the Hollywood studio system, conveying his fascination with the trend of Hollywood. ‘Happy Endings’ is an element required to make a successful Hollywood film. Along with other components such as ‘suspense, laughter, violence, hope, heart, nudity, sex’. The Film’s title suggests a lack of seriousness, but it’s about a man who gets away with murder, and any normal scale of moral is skewed. The player, the contestant, the participant, is Griffin Mill, and the game is all about winning. If he is playing a mere game he is...

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“Saw you lot ‘round near Bill and Mary’s fish and chippery. To tell you the truth, I’ve been a bit worried about Mary myself lately. Tough time she’s going through, she is.”
Mary? Up until this point, the woman – well, Mary – had been simply that: a woman. The description of her using a name added a new dimension of colour: previously, she’d been a two dimensional concept to contemplate. But now, she was a human being – a person with friends, family and woven into the complexity of human life.
He handed us the truffles. And then he winked. I’m not sure what the wink was – perhaps it was an amicable gesture, maybe he knew what we were doing. But how could he? Were we, as teenagers, such transparent people? Could he peer into our reality, comprehend the immaturity of our actions? Were we immature?
By the time we arrived at the beach, the truffles had melted in their paper cases. John stopped maintaining that the plan was flawless. We’d taken quite a while to get there – stopping by the 7-11 to grab slurpees, we’d encountered another group of schoolies students and everyone had hit it off. We were going to their place tomorrow evening.
But in the time it’d taken us to finish our cola flavoured slurpees, stroll down main street and turn into beach road, much had changed. In preparation for a good night’s sleep, the sun had descended into its bed, sending streaks of purple and orange across the clouds.
And then we saw her. It was poignant,...

...﻿http://www.scribd.com/doc/140782590/Whose-Reality-When-Competing-Realities-Clash#scribd
When competing realities clash, they often end in tragedy
A person’s reality is shaped by society’s expectations
http://www.scribd.com/doc/140794791/Context-Whose-Reality
there is an objective reality out there but we see it through the spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes and values – David G Myers
People with a different view can be viewed as revolutionists in the future as without them there would be no art or creations
Aristotle the legendary Greek philosopher said, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual.” Man cannot live alone.
Without societys expectations we cannot measure whether we have lived a worthwhile anf fulfilling life
http://www.scribd.com/doc/140790882/The-Lot-In-Words-by-Michael-Leunig
we create realities in order to to cope with reality
even reality is open to interpretation
through our imaginations we can experience different worlds
our memories distort our current reality
only through multiple perspectives can we understand reality
our memories and our experiences prevent us from seeing reality clearly...

...We grow through exploring multiple realities
Its 9pm on a Sunday and I can feel the first of the rain as its droplets catch on my outstretched palms. There’s something very humbling about the rain. It’s one of nature’s great forces, and completely escapes our control. When the rain comes, it doesn’t account for petty human drama, politics and cultural divisions. I ponder this thought as I round the bend and turn down the next street. The rain is a reminder that above all else, we are at the whim of mother nature. Beyond our constructed realities and perception of modern society lies a force mar more powerful than humanity. This is a somewhat overwhelming thought, and instantly I long for togetherness and company, but I must remind myself that I am a stranger here. Through the windows of the houses lining this street, people go about their lives to the sound of the rain on their rooftops. Perhaps some of them are experiencing similar thoughts to my own? Raindrops slide down my forehead and drip from my brow onto my eyelids- the water blurs my vision. In this dreamlike state, I wander forwards, the lights around me shifting, darting and sliding in the darkness. At this bizarre moment in time I feel a sudden and uncontainable urge to peer through the windows of the houses that surround me, to catch an insight into the lives of these strangers. Through each window lies a different truth, and I am suddenly all too eager to explore these...

...﻿The weak are forced to create alternative realities
The brain is a crucible: a melting pot of intersecting ingredients that forges a reality that is deceptively the same, but often vastly different for each individual. That reality is a construct is a fashionable term these days; it means that we tend to see reality from a particular frame of reference. There is always a context, whether it be political, social or cultural. For those who are unable to construct a satisfactory reality, it is then that they are forced to create an alternative reality, perhaps that fulfils their dreams and meets their views and values.
In the words of cognitive neuropsychologist Kaspar Meyer, “what is now clear is that the brain is not a stimulus-driven robot that directly translates the outer world into a conscious experience. What we’re conscious of is what the brain makes us be conscious of, and in the absence of incoming signals, bits of memories tucked away can be enough for a brain to get started with”. Reality for each individual differs according to their past experiences and memories, as well as what they choose to perceive to be true.
Those with weaker frames of minds - such as individuals suffering from mental disorders, or solely living under delusion - tend to create alternative realities in order to escape the harsh truth. Consider the materialism of the post-war...

...alter our different perceptions of reality.
Colors flickered across the blank canvas as I thrust and twirled the brush across the surface. Vermillion, violet and mauve intertwined together to create a fountain of colour. I was a master and this was my masterpiece. Different splashes of colour came together to create a vibrant jungle, full of illuminating colors, each stroke appeared in the exact place I envisioned it. I was born into the wrong world. The world of colour is where I belonged. Sadly, the world I live in couldn’t offer me that. I wanted to be one with my picture, to join its canvas page and become one with the perfection I had crafted. Whilst we may exist in an absolute state of being, our own knowledge and events influence how we see it, ultimately blinding us from seeing the real truth.
Everybody has their own reality defined by the limited borders of environment and experience. Whilst all of us are created as equals, life quickly finds a way to change that. Everyone becomes blinded by memories and knowledge as they are left to discover their own truth. The doomed “Willy Loman” from Arthur Miller’s social study “Death of a Salesman” portrays a man who is but an “empty skin” waiting to be “thrown out” by the progression of society. He is blinded by his memories and knowledge as he desperately seeks to fulfil the American dream. Willy Loman is used to represent the dangers of pursuing a dream at all costs and brings the harsh...

...A child’s world is shaped by their parent’s reality. Jordan Djuric
The birth of Prince George into the Royal family has created question on how a family who have rarely any privacy, could raise a child as normal as possible. The family could not even name George without approval from many others. But it brings up the question of, what is a “normal” upbringing anyway?
If a normal upbringing is one which consists of two average paid parents, who live in a middle class suburban home, where they have two children who compete in several sports and go to an average school and grandparents who live close enough to see on a regular basis… I’d say my childhood was not “normal” either.
Although parents are an overwhelming influence in dictating the moulding of our reality, as we progress through childhood our friends and role models also guide us. Before the age of five children don’t really have a choice in the actions that they do. They are their parent’s puppets, although this is usually to guide and nurture this can also have negative repercussions for the child. Then as a child goes to school and starts to choose their own friends they then have peer pressure, which not only will they face when they are five but all the way through their life.
Our first role model is the ones who we grow up with; our parents. The reason we learn to walk and to talk is because our first actions are to copy our role models and as we grow up this is our parents....

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The reality that we create is unique to our own experiences.
What is real? What is reality? The notion of reality is inextricably linked to the subjectivity of individual human existence. Reality is defined as the state of being real; what we can perceive through our senses. In essence, reality is viewed differently by each individual, through the intensity of his/her past experiences, values, emotions and perspective.
Consider this, three blind men all touch a different part of the elephant but are unable to recognize that it is indeed an elephant. Based on their own subjective impressions, thoughts and feelings, each arrive at different conclusions. The man who touched the trunk, said it was a snake; the man who touched its belly, said it was a wall. And the man who felt the elephant’s tusk, and said it was a spear and another felt its ear and said it was like a hand fan. All of the men were in heated disagreement. The story of the elephant and the blind man is a popular proverb in Buddhist mythology. The blind men all made inferences about the object based on their assumptions, their biases and prior experiences. The blind men were dependent upon different spheres of perception. Our perception is determined and skewed by environmental variables that refract events according to what kind of person we are and the events that have led us to believe what is real. The three blind men in this anecdote...

...Today, people are born into a generation where people care only for themselves more than ever. People want the best and nothing but the best. In Jean Twinge’s essay, “An Army of One: Me,” it focuses on the self-esteem that people have and how it is related to the happiness in which people want to feel. Having high self-esteem will contribute to being more confident, which will lead to an individual taking on their goals head on. Also, both Leslie Bell’s, “Selections from Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” and Daniel Gilbert’s, “Immune to Reality,” offer insight on the matter of pursuit of happiness. Each individual has their own way of knowing when they are happy and only they will know when the feeling is reached. When self-esteem is dependent on competence, individuals invest a great deal of effort in their accomplishments and success in order to validate themselves, which leads to the state of feeling happy.
In order to have a high self-esteem and be happy, people need to establish what self is. Everyone has self-esteem according to Twenge. Since childhood, people are told to “just be themselves,” so that others can accept us for who we really are. Even though being true to oneself personality wise, people act differently, depending on the situation at hand. One does not usually act the same way in school as they do in a home setting. One does not talk the same way to a friend as they do to a teacher. It is...